Wall bracing apparatus

Abstract

A wall bracing apparatus for mounting between a wall and the floor during construction. The wall bracing apparatus includes a tube that is mounted to a wall-mounted device and a floor-mounted device. The wall-mounted device has a backing plate and a front plate on opposite sides of the wall. A t-bar having a head at one end and a shaft through which a hole is formed extends through aligned central apertures in the plates and a wedge is inserted in the hole near the front plate end of the t-bar. A pair of ears on the front plate has aligned holes through which a pin extends that is also inserted through the tube. A duplicate of the front plate can be mounted to the floor and the opposite end of the tube can pivotably mount to the ears thereof.

1. An apparatus bracing a wall during construction, the apparatus comprising:
 (a) a backing plate on a first side of the wall, the plate having an aperture; 
 (b) a front plate on a second side of the wall opposite the backing plate, the front plate having an aperture aligned with the aperture of the backing plate and opposed ears extending from opposite sides of the front plate, the ears having a first pair of aligned holes and a second pair of aligned holes spaced from the first pair of aligned holes; 
 (c) an elongated fastener having a head and a shaft, the shaft extending through the aperture in the backing plate with the head adjacent the backing plate, through the aperture in the front plate that is aligned with the aperture in the back plate and through the wall disposed between the front and backing plates, the elongated fastener having at least one hole formed through the shaft near a shaft end opposite the head, said at least one hole being disposed between the opposed ears of the front plate, wherein the second pair of aligned holes in the ears is aligned with said at least one hole in the elongated fastener's shaft; 
 (d) a wedge extending through said at least one hole in the elongated fastener's shaft and through the second pair of aligned holes in the ears; and 
 (e) a first pivot pin extending through the first pair of aligned holes in the ears to which a first end of a bracing member pivotably mounts and extends away from the wall. 
 
     
     
       2. The apparatus in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the elongated fastener is a t-bar. 
     
     
       3. The apparatus in accordance with  claim 2 , further comprising a plurality of holes through the wedge, and a fastening pin extending through at least one of said plurality of holes. 
     
     
       4. The apparatus in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the elongated fastener has a plurality of holes near one end for the wedge to extend through, each of said holes corresponding to a different wall thickness. 
     
     
       5. The apparatus in accordance with  claim 4 , wherein the elongated fastener is a plate with the head wider than the shaft. 
     
     
       6. The apparatus in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the ears are near one end of the front plate, the aperture on the front plate is substantially centrally located and a third set of holes is formed near an end opposite the ears for inserting fasteners therethrough. 
     
     
       7. The apparatus in accordance with  claim 6 , further comprising at least one hole formed in the front plate between the ears for inserting at least one fastener. 
     
     
       8. The apparatus in accordance with  claim 1 , further comprising a floor plate that is substantially identical to the front plate and mounted to a stable structure spaced from the wall, the floor plate having opposed ears extending from opposite sides of the floor plate with a fourth pair of aligned holes through which a second pivot pin extends and to which the bracing member extending away from the wall pivotably mounts at a second bracing member end disposed between the opposed pair of ears. 
     
     
       9. The apparatus in accordance with  claim 8 , wherein the bracing member extending away from the wall is an assembly of tubes telescopically mounted together. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus in accordance with  claim 8 , wherein a second bracing member attaches to the front plate at a fifth pair of aligned holes formed in the opposed ears near an end of the opposed ears opposite the first pair of aligned holes and a second pivot pin extends through the fifth pair of aligned holes through an aperture formed in an end of the second bracing member, thereby pivotably mounting the second bracing member to the front plate. 
     
     
       11. The apparatus in accordance with  claim 9 , wherein each of said tubes has a first and a second end, each end has connection means, and the first end connection means is substantially identical to the connection means of the second end. 
     
     
       12. The apparatus in accordance with  claim 9 , further comprising a cable extending from the bracing member to attachment to a floor adjacent the wall. 
     
     
       13. The apparatus in accordance with  claim 11 , further comprising a lockable container into which the tubes, the plates, the fastener and the wedge fit. 
     
     
       14. The apparatus in accordance with  claim 13 , wherein the container has forklift pockets mounted thereto. 
     
     
       15. The apparatus in accordance with  claim 8 , wherein the floor plate is mounted to a floor adjacent the wall. 
     
     
       16. The apparatus in accordance with  claim 8 , wherein the floor plate is mounted to a weight mounted in a floor adjacent the wall.